Jackboot & Ironheel #4 - IDW Publishing

JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL No. 4, November 2016

Up until the point where he is (presumably) fatally pierced through the back by an enormous demonic tail-spike, Max Millgate’s titular character for Issue Four of “Jackboot & Ironheel” rather plays out like a moustached incarnation of George Lucas’ fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones. In fact, considering that the narrative for this twenty-two page periodical contains waterlogged secret passageways, a saintly hidden weapon buried deep underground and more gun-toting Nazis than a remake of the movie “The Last Crusade” could probably afford, it must have been genuinely hard for its readers not to have John Williams’ famous theme tune running through their heads as Eddie Neale assails a ruined tower, places his faith in God, and dodges bullets, tanks and even a squadron of planes…

Still, such similarities with the American media franchise are no bad thing at all, and apart from a touchingly sentimental opening, where Gunter bemoans Sister Evangeline’s cold-blooded murder by a German sentry and the former footballer sneakily manages to pilfer his guard's pistol, this “traditional war story set during World War Two” which “then takes a turn for the supernatural horror” is absolutely packed full of sense-stunning action. It certainly must have been hard for any perusing bibliophile to pause for breath once the British airman discovers a hidden stairway leading out of his cell, simultaneously avoids being shot at by both a Tiger Tank and Squadron of Stuka dive-bombers, and then subsequently finds himself facing the gigantic supernatural terror Kommandant Von-Kleist has inadvertently awakened; “One bullet left. Make it count!”

Perhaps this comic’s sole weakness is Millgate’s somewhat amateurish interior illustrations, which, whilst they do a fairly competent job of making it clear what is happening frame by frame, definitely lack the dynamic energy captured by the likes of Mike Mignola and his "German expressionism meets Jack Kirby" drawing style. However, considering the sheer scale of the mayhem caused by the Third Reich’s armoured response to the Devil’s satanic lake monster, the Leicester-born artist’s ‘minimalist’ approach at least provides a clear, uncluttered view of the pandemonium taking place, with a mutilated castle Kommandant, complete with eyes tentacles and gangrenous hand, proving a particularly stomach-churning treat for the eyes.

The variant 'subscription' cover art of "JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL" No. 4 by Max Millgate

Jackboot & Ironheel #3 - IDW Publishing

JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL No. 3, October 2016

Max Millgate undoubtedly ramps up both the fear and loathing factors for “Issue Three” of “Jackboot & Ironheel” by not only depicting Kommandant Von-Kleist’s loyal driver Kurt getting bitten in half by some five-storey tall tentacled monstrosity, but subsequently having his ‘creator-drive comic’ conclude with a well-meaning nun being cold-bloodily gunned-down through the back by a “Mein Kampf” reading German guard. Such graphically illustrated bodily mutilation and unchristian barbarism genuinely manages to incite the senses, and undoubtedly ensured that the majority of this title’s mortified readership were eager to acquire the mini-series’ fourth and final instalment; even if it was simply to confirm that the poor resourceful Sister Evangeline had actually reached her bloody end on the cold floor of solitary cell number nine.

Impressively however, this twenty-two page periodical’s narrative doesn’t just depict a plethora of mindlessly violent, supposedly inter-connecting action sequences. For whilst the freelance illustrator’s script does add to “the body count”, it also finally provides some context as to just why the “Prisoner Of War camp within the walls of a medieval castle” is haunted and how come “in times of great conflict” the defunct bell tower can be heard ringing. Indeed, in many ways the recounting of the legend of Count Ludwig Stromberg’s local bell maker Wulf is arguably the highlight of the book, with its wonderfully atmospheric illustrations, gorgeously gold colouring and stingingly effective morale tale that it is never wise to triumphantly declare that “even god cannot defeat me!”

Millgate even finds the time to actually add some personality to the story’s stereotypically “sinister ‘S.S.’ officer” by having Lungotz Luftzig’s Kommandant discuss his plans for Englishman Eddie Neale with his Kübelwagen confidant; “Permission to speak is granted. I can hear you thinking anyway”. This somewhat ‘sincere’ relationship between the two soldiers clearly establishes the cold-hearted man is capable of feeling emotions, even if it doesn’t help endear Von-Kleist to the publication's audience. Yet it also provides some weight to Kurt’s grisly disembowelment later on in the book and arguably even adds a hint of anguish to the voice of the comic’s main antagonist when, despite being enthralled within the tentacle of “a demonic monstrous thing”, he despairing calls out his deceased driver’s name…

The variant 'subscription' cover art of "JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL" No. 3 by Max Millgate

Jackboot & Ironheel #2 - IDW Publishing

JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL No. 2, September 2016

Featuring a slavering green-eyed killer hound, some terrifying multi-tentacled creature at the bottom of a lake, and the putrefying living corpse of Muggenthaler, Issue Two” of “Jackboot & Ironheel” genuinely seems to live up to its creator’s aspiration as being a fantasy title packed full of “unearthly horrors”. However, in order to reach such scintillating supernatural shenanigans this twenty-two page periodical’s audience must first sadly, endure an incredibly ponderous start which follows both the “sinister” ‘SS’ officer Kommandant Von-Kleist as he bemoans the “decommissioning” of “this damned prison” and Gunter's illogical determination to allow Eddie Neale to try and play football with Sister Evangeline inside the prisoner of war’s cramped cell.

This tedious opening third really must have tested the patience of any causal bibliophile who picked the ‘creator-driven comic’ up from the magazine spinner rack, and arguably contains some truly disinteresting and unconvincing dialogue as the captive West Ham striker somehow persuades his German guard that instead of fighting one another their two countries should actually “sort out their differences on the football field… Just eleven men playing against eleven… fair and square!” It’s certainly hard to believe this thirty second conversation would not only convince Gunter that the Englishman isn’t his enemy, but subsequently influence the church’s Mother Superior to help the “number nine” escape over her chapel’s roof after she had previously warned her nuns not to get “too involved with the prisoners.”

Luckily, once doomed sentries Muller and Wilhelm decide the ‘best time’ to go looking for their superior officer’s hound in the nearby woodland is at night, the freelance illustrator’s script transforms itself into a thoroughly enjoyable, if not slightly clichéd, read. Indeed, the dog’s savaging of his would-be-rescuer’s intestines is just the start of a ghastly gore-fest which sees the tail-gunner swimming for his life away from buoyant zombies and a crewman aboard a Nazi gunboat being dragged down into the cold murky depths by a multi-limbed monstrosity; “I have you, Joachim, fear not! You’re safe… with meee!”

Perhaps the most disconcerting element of this comic though, is Millgate’s highly stylized, yet amateurish-looking, breakdowns. Often wooden and featuring the most rudimentary of details, the World War Two buff’s overly angular figures consistently ‘break’ any sort of spell which his narrative was trying to weave, and it truly appears to be a shame that none of the “amazing artists” lined up “to do all of the variant covers” ultimately materialised so as to reduce the burden of Max “writing, pencilling, inking and colouring the whole thing myself.”

The variant 'subscription' cover art of "JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL" No. 2 by Max Millgate

Jackboot & Ironheel #1 - IDW Publishing

JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL No. 1, June 2016

The third in a series of “creator-driven comics” launched by “IDW Publishing” as part of their “five-week Creator Visions event” in August 2016, Issue One of “Jackboot & Ironheel” must undoubtedly have bewildered any perusing bibliophile who just happened to pick the magazine up with its harrowing tale of a West Ham football player winding up “in the midst of World War Two” just as a Nazi zombie goes on a grisly killing rampage within the confines of the P.O.W. camp Lungotz Luftzig. In fact, even those readers inwardly prepared for such gratuitous violence, on account of being familiar with writer Max Millgate’s “2000 A.D.” co-creation “Sinister Dexter”, probably found the hairs on the back of their necks stirring as a decaying German guard menacingly approaches his former colleagues’ sentry post and quite literally claws one of their heads in half; “Get away from me! You’re not Muggenthaler! He’s… dead. Ernst? Mein Gott! Noooo!”

The regular Judge Dredd contributor’s narrative certainly proves a disturbingly sinister experience, and impressively gets straight down to the business at hand, courtesy of Eddie “Ironheel” Neal swiftly recounting how he seemingly scored for the Hammers at Upton Park one day and then survived his Lancester Bomber HB-33’s crash-landing in occupied Europe the next. As a result one is barely into the twenty-two page periodical before the no-nonsense English tail-gunner is being brutalised by goose-stepping patrolmen, facing summary execution at the hands of Herr Kommandant Von-Kleist and encountering the cognisant cadaver of a drunken soldier long thought dead…

Somewhat regrettably however, Millgate’s interior breakdowns are rather woefully detrimental to both his storytelling and the comic’s spine-tingling ambience, inexplicably fluctuating between a style somewhat reminiscent of Mike Mignola’s "Hellboy" and exasperatingly that of an adolescent amateur. Indeed in many ways it is hard to believe that the artist responsible for this title’s exquisitely detailed cover illustration featuring Ironheel stoically staring into the face of an undead Nazi zombie is actually the same person drawing the inertly wooden, two-dimensional figures inside the book.

Admittedly, the “captured English bombardier” looks reasonably lifelike and animated during the tale’s opening panels, especially those depicting the Messerschmitt night-fighter downing the large R.A.F. plane over a frozen lake. But just as soon as the titular character takes a “rifle butt to the back of the head” the penciller’s discipline appears to significantly diminish to the point where some of the later scenes genuinely seem to have been sketched for a neighbourhood fanzine, rather than as part of professionally published four-issue mini-series.

The variant 'subscription' cover art of "JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL" No. 1 by Max Millgate